The Beast and the Beauty
by Emmazippy577
Summary: Once upon a time, after being locked up in an enchanted castle for many years, a beauty was visited by a beast. Almost beauty and the beast, but not really at all. Slight gelphie. Rated for language. Booksical. I'm literally the worst at summaries: I swear it's better than I make it sound.
1. Little Town

**Okay, so I recently read a beauty and the beast gelphie fiction. It was wonderfully done! However, in the disney version, Belle's love of books and oddness did not seem to coincide with Galinda, who was obviously the beauty. I don't believe Galinda could ever not be the beauty, given the situation of the book and musical, despite how beautiful I feel Elphaba may be. However, in this tale, the beauty will be regarded and trapped as the beast. I'm sure by reading, you'll understand better. I'm only half-way-certain of my own plot. This is an AU, but the characters are booksical: so mainly musical with the "Elphaban" aversion to water, and Nessarose is armless, and of course the whole Animal/animal difference.**

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was a beauty who lived in a castle. She was surrounded by her staff and loving parents. She easily received whatever whim she announced. However, she was spoiled. She and her friends would pick at the less attractive girls who surrounded them. They were a shallow bunch, surely, and they didn't care at all for this fact. When one is of high social standing, one only needs to impress their friends, not some divine gilded law._

 _However, there was such a divine gilded law that existed. And one stormy night, when the beautiful girl's parents were visiting their other friends, and the blonde was left alone with the staff, that this divine law arrived in the form of a small, ugly woman._

 _"Please," the elderly woman begged, "I only ask for shelter from the storm. In exchange you may have this flower." She presented the blonde beauty with a radiant pink rose._

 _"As much as I love pink," the beauty stated, "I simply cannot allow you inside for your hideociousness."_

 _The elderly woman replied, "Do not be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within."_

 _Still, the beauty refused. With that, the haggard woman turned into a beautiful sorceress, and cursed the castle where the beauty resided. The beauty would never be able to leave the castle, and she would only be freed when she was able to look within, loving those whose skin was hideous, and being loved in return. The pink rose, an enchanted rose, turned the castle's staff into various inanimate objects, most encrusted with emerald. The staff and castle were then loyal to the laws of the rose, and upon the spoiled girl's 21st birthday, the manor would be forever encased in a layer of emerald: the girl would be stuck there forever, with no hope of a visitor saving her._

* * *

Elphaba was not born for the rose and pearl.

She helped her little sister, Nessarose to sit up, and spoon fed her a breakfast of oatmeal. Nessarose, at least, was cooperative for the most part. When the bowl was scraped clean, Elphaba gave a careful, "are you still hungry?" Nessarose shook her head good-naturedly. Elphaba nodded approvingly and proceeded to help Nessarose to her feet. "Alright. Need anything else?"

"Just help into the living room, please. Oh, Elphaba, could you fetch me some water," Elphaba nodded, walking back towards the icebox, "and a book as well?" Elphaba noticeably winced. The request of a book meant that Elphaba would have to hold it for hours until her sister grew tired of it. It would be of little consequence since her only job was to look after Nessarose, but her arms always seemed to get tired when she wasn't reading for her own pleasure.

Elphaba nodded back to her obediently, however, and quickly completed her given tasks. She sat beside her sister, holding the book steadily and turning pages at Nessa's bidding, for roughly two hours. When finally, Nessarose was tired of the book, Elphaba put it away for her.

"Elphaba, could you retrieve the music box for me?" Elphaba nodded quietly and grabbed a gleaming music box from atop a shelf in the kitchen. She brought it back, and twisted the mechanism before placing it on Nessa's lap amicably. It played some long-lost diddy that no one could remember the lyrics to. Elphaba listened calmly, while Nessa tapped her foot along to the slow but happy beat.

Soon, their father, Frex, returned home. He happily greeted Nessarose, "Ah, my little Nessarose, how was your day?" As he said this, he shot Elphaba a side-glare. Elphaba nodded, while Nessarose informed him that the day had gone swimmingly. He smiled at her and gave Elphaba an approving nod.

"Father, may I go to the library?" Elphaba asked during a pause after much discussion between Nessa and Frex.

"Sure, sure. Be back soon." He lifted his head up to give her a warning look, "And _don't_ make a scene."

Elphaba nodded, "of course," grabbed a blue book she'd borrowed the previous day, and left without much thought.

* * *

"Doctor Dillamond? Here you are." Elphaba presented the Goat with the blue book, her eyes the only indication to any joy she may have felt.

"All ready done?" Doctor Dillamond, an old professor from some forgotten univeristy, asked, entertained but not shocked. Elphaba nodded, looking behind him at the colorful shelves.

"Yes. Have you anything new?"

"No, no, not since yesterday."

Elphaba hummed, and grabbed a book with a maroon cover. "Then, I shall borrow this one."

"You've read that two time before, Miss Elphaba," Doctor Dillamond chuckled.

"Well, it _is_ my favorite," Elphaba replied, giving the Goat another happy look. She began to leave, until Doctor Dillamond put his hoof on her shoulder.

"Seeing as you like it so much, Miss Elphaba, it's yours now."

"Mine?"

"Of course. Enjoy it."

"Thank you so much, Professor!" Elphaba exclaimed giving him one of her rare smiles.

"Anytime, Miss Elphaba. I'll see you soon, I'm sure." Elphaba nodded again, and made her way out of the bookstore. She quickly opened the book and began to read as she walked. For the most part, people in the village stayed out of her way. She was familiar, of course, but not liked. So, walking with her nose in a book was simple. However, her reading was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot.

Elphaba's eyes widened and she followed the sound. It was Fiyero and Boq, gladly snagging their latest kill.

"Fiyero, have you any idea if that was an animal or an Animal?" Elphaba yelled, trying to make herself as intimidating as possible against the noble and his pal.

"Elphaba, have you any idea if that was cabbage or grass that you were fed as a child?" Elphaba grimaced at him and opened her mouth to speak again. She was interrupted, however, by Boq.

"Probably some combination of that and artichoke." Elphaba gave another sour look to him and began to speak but was again interrupted.

"Her parents surely should have kept a better eye on her," Fiyero lamented.

"But who would want to?" Boq replied, an evil grin on his face.

"The wicked witch of grass."Fiyero chuckled to himself. Elphaba felt magic at her fingertips, but remembered that she was not to make a scene. However, she felt at liberty to bite back verbally.

"The wicked witch of kicking your ass," Elphaba growled, her face heated. Perhaps it would scare them into obedience if she threatened.

"Who has a gun, the entire village in love with him, and two thumbs?" Fiyero asked, leaning down only slightly to match her height."This guy," he grinned that evil grin, pointing both thumbs to himself.

"Wouldn't want to stir up any riots, would we?" Boq questioned. Behind her eyes, Elphaba saw pitchforks, guns, and torches. She blinked hard at them, but did not make any biting remarks. "It should appear not," Boq hummed contentedly.

"Just, if you can't go two minutes without murdering something, _please,_ ensure that it is an animal."

"Gladly," Fiyero lied between his, admittedly perfect, teeth.

Elphaba shook her head, riled up as it was, and made her way home. _"That was pretty good though, Miss Elphaba,"_ she thought, trying to calm herself, _"wicked witch of kicking your ass. I'll have to use that again."_

* * *

The next day, Frex was finishing his preparation of a carriage for himself and Nessarose. They planned to go to the Wizard, and see what could be done for Nessarose's arms, or lack-thereof.

"Now, you're to keep to the house, Elphaba. If you must go to the village, do not make a scene. There will be none of your little tantrums or any unusual occurrences inside or near this house. Understood?"

"Yes, Father, I understand."

"Very good. Now, we best be getting on our way."

"Of course." Elphaba took the reins on helping Nessa into the carriage, while Frex took the reins of their horse.

"Oh, Elphaba," Nessarose asked after being situated between many pillows in the carriage. "Should Boq come by, would you please be polite and mention that I'm thinking of him?" Elphaba thought of yesterday's interaction with Boq for less than a moment. She ensured that Nessa was buckled and would not topple over should they meet any bumps in their path. "Elphaba?"

Elphaba gave a fake grin, "No." And promptly shut the carriage door before Nessarose could complain.

"Off we go!" Frex announced, and Elphaba was left alone. Just how she liked it.

* * *

 **Alrightie ladies and gentlemen, that was chapter one. I hope to get these chapters done in a quick succession, even enough that I may post the story entirely in a few days or less. So, yay! I'll get to work on Chapter 2 with haste**


	2. Disrespectifyingness

**Alrightie, here's chapter 2 for you all. By the way, this is all written for entertainment, rather than profit. All characters belong to Gregory Maguire and Stephen Schwartz. So, onward, Hiroshima!**

* * *

Frex was unsure of what to do. He hopped upon the horse's back, so that it would be easier to direct him. You see, two paths were diverged in a road. Which one would lead to the wizard, however? Both sides were made of yellow brick. There was no scarecrow to point them in the correct direction, though, so Frex picked the right side. The road was a bit darker on this side, and the woods ever-thicker, but this was of little consequence, surely.

It was not of little consequence.

The road soon began to thin, and branches lying astray in the road nearly tripped the horse. Darkness fell quickly, and when wolves were heard growling behind him, Frex was certain he had made a mistake. The horse, simply, fled. Wolves bit at his hooves, and jumped onto the carriage. The horse bucked and suddenly the carriage was detached from his harness. The horse, and Frex above him fled, followed closely by the wolves.

* * *

Nessarose was confused. The carriage, it appeared, was abandoned. She used her sides and head to push open the carriage door, and stepped down carefully. She looked about herself, still confused. For the very first time in her life, Nessarose was alone.

She stepped onto the dirt road and looked around. There was little else for her to do but try to find shelter. So, Nessarose, cold and alone for the first time in her life, wandered around aimlessly, for the first time in her life, searching for a welcoming place, for the first time in her life.

Eventually, she wandered upon a castle. It was surrounded by a very high stone wall. The castle was ominous, a deep grey, deep cracks running up the sides. She could see branches poking from atop the wall. Nessarose leaned against the wall and circled it. Finally, she found a break in the stone. A gap just big enough for a girl without shoulders to fit in. So, she did.

"A visitor?" a small mechanical dragon asked, turning to a small robot. They sat upon a table near the entrance. The dragon was made of gears upon gears, and twitched with each tick of his clock. The small robot had the name "Grommetik" imprinted on his metal chest.

"Don't." Grommetik replied warningly.

"But she's lost! And of no danger to us- she's clearly not armed."

Grommetik just looked at the small Time Dragon. Just looked at him.

The Tiny Time Dragon hopped off of the table and approached Nessarose. "Madame?"

"Who's there?" Nessarose asked, turning around.

"Hello!" The Time Dragon yelled, smiling when Nessarose glanced down to him. She jumped in fright but calmed herself before she could fall. "Do not fear, madame. Here, let us warm you up."

The Time Dragon lead Nessa to a living room, a fire roaring before a warm pink chair. "Grommetik, go get her some tea."

"Tiny Time Dragon, she shouldn't even be here," Grommetik not-so-discretely whispered.

"She is our guest, Grom," Time Dragon rolled his eyes. Grommetik shook his mechanical head, but retrieved some refreshments anyways.

"Just so no one else is woken up," he explained, upon serving Nessarose. Nessarose, used to being served, only offered her typical tiny thanks. Regardless, it warmed the "gentlemen" to be appreciated.

"Did I hear a tea whistle?" A feminine voice called from upstairs.

The Time Dragon's eyes grew wide, while Grommetik muttered, "told you."

"Come now, you must leave," Time Dragon whispered, trying to pull Nessarose to her feet. Without arms, however, she was unable to rise quick enough.

"How many spoonfuls of sugar did you put in?" Galinda called in questioning, walking into the living room. "Oh goodness!" She sighed, looking to the ceiling. "Really now. This is ridiculous!" She gave glares to the objects, then turned to Nessarose. "Well, come on, now, then. To the tower with you."

"What?" Nessarose asked, being pulled to her feet. Galinda sighed and pushed Nessa along in front of her.

"Now we have to keep you in here forever, you realize that? Goodness, does no one in this house care about the rules? This is purely stupiferous. The rooms are a mess, and now we have to go into that icky tower," Galinda trilled, "ewwww!"

"Wait, what? I only came in for shelter, Miss, truly. I meant you no harm!"

"They aren't my rules. _I_ don't want you in here. Oh, look now," she turned on the lights of the main hall with a clap of her hands. "You tracked in dirt and, oh, how disgustifying, all over my nice pink rug. " Galinda rolled her eyes again. "Grommetik, clean that rug now, please." Grommetik went and gathered up the rug, taking it away to be scrubbed. "Quick. Make sure that doesn't stain, please!"

"I'm sorry, Miss..."

"Galinda of the Upper Uplands," she made as if to shake Nessa's hand, realized her error and continued pushing the girl to the tower. "Pleasure."

* * *

When Frex arrived back, freezing and unconscious on the horse, Elphaba knew she would have to find her sister. She brought her father into the house, and made sure that all he needed was at hand. She did as well as she could to ensure that his fever would be brought down while she was gone. Immediately following, she left with the horse.

"Now, were I Nessarose, where would I go?" She lead the horse along the yellow brick road, until they reached an ominous fork. "Now, Henry, where did you go before?" Henry, the name Elphaba gave the horse long ago, shied away at first. With Elphaba's stern prodding, however, he retraced his steps. Soon, after travelling down the path, they came across the carriage. An open door motivated Elphaba to hop down from Henry, and track her sister as if she were a blood hound. She lead Henry by his reins gently but sternly, and Henry obediently followed.

Finally, they came across the castle. Elphaba looked around the wall, searching for an opening. When she found a Nessarose-sized opening, she figured that her sister had indeed entered the strange manor. Elphaba sighed, and looked about her. She wanted Henry to come in with her, so he would be safe. The only way she could do that, however...

Elphaba made the executive decision to magic the opening in the wall to a size large enough for the pair of them. It shrunk to its original size after the pair passed through. They made their way into the manor, creepy even when lit by the sun.

* * *

"Do you know any card games?" Galinda asked, sitting on a chair outside of Nessarose's sell. Grommetik and the Tiny Time Dragon sat on either side of her. Nessarose opened her mouth to speak, but the Tiny Time Dragon interrupted.

"Even if she knew any, it's obvious she would never get a good hand."

Nessarose and Grommetik gave the mechanical beast a look of disappointment and anger.

Galinda coughed, "Now, Tiny Time Dragon, that's hardly polite. Come now, let's go get Miss, um, Nessafern her dinner." Tiny Time Dragon nodded and walked beside her out of the room. Before they were even out of earshot, Galinda let out a giggle. "That was so good, oh my goodness!"

"I know! It was just too good to pass up!"

Grommetik winced apologetically, but Nessarose ignored him in favor of pouting.

* * *

As Galinda and Tiny Time Dragon brought dinner upstairs, they heard a new voice in the manor.

"Nessa! Nessarose, where are you?"

"Who in Oz..?" Galinda asked, looking down to Tiny Time Dragon. They both hid behind a wall, and watched as a lanky girl, clad in black, made her way up the stairs.

Galinda and the Tiny Time Dragon followed as the girl made her way upstairs. She was quick on her feet, this dark figure, and found her sister quickly. "Nessa, who put you in here? Come on, let's get you out."

"Does anyone in Oz care about the rules besides me?" Galinda exclaimed from behind the girl.

The black-clad figure sighed, and in a steady voice replied, "What are the rules?"

"She trespassed, so she has to stay here forever, as my prisoner. It's the rules."

"Who says?"

"Galinda of the Upper Uplands. That's who. ...Well, truly, not particularly. I find them all rather stupiferous. But they're the rules."

"And if I exchanged my freedom for hers?"

* * *

Elphaba looked at her sister, lonely for the first time in her life. Nessarose wasn't made to be alone. She was born for the rose and pearl, unlike Elphaba. No, Elphaba was below this girl in every way. Her father missed Nessarose. Her father loved Nessarose. The town loved Nessarose. Nessarose loved the town and every aspect of it.

Her father used Elphaba. Her father resented Elphaba. The town despised Elphaba. Elphaba loved one old Goat, one armless Girl, one hypocritical preacher, and one horse. Only two of those four loved her in return, she supposed.

Nessarose had a home to return to. Elphaba supposed she did not.

"And if I exchange my freedom for hers?"

Galinda looked to her feet and then back up to the girl's back. "I suppose that would be acceptabilitle."

Nessarose made no move to stop her sister, or oppose this sacrifice. Elphaba opened the door, and pulled her sister lovingly to her feet. "Come now. Father will be happy to see you."

Nessarose returned in her typical, expectant, and merely polite "thank you." Elphaba nodded, ever the emotionless servant to her sister.

When Elphaba turned around, her hands steadying Nessa, as they were made to do, Galinda certainly did not expect this.

"Green," Galinda whispered, shock obvious on her face. Elphaba pretended not to hear her, and lead her sister to the stairs. Galinda snapped out of her stupor for just long enough to say, "Grommetik, have the carriage escort Nessarose to the village."

"Take Henry with her, please," Elphaba monotoned. Galinda, although confused, nodded in response, and looked to Grommetik.

"See to it."

* * *

Galinda's eyes never left Elphaba, after seeing the green skin. Elphaba noticed it, and decided that she was now without a father. No one, now, could tell her to not make a scene or to hold her tongue. Her distress at losing her family, however unloving they may be, was enough to cause her most endearing sarcasm.

She raised an eyebrow at Galinda, "What are you looking at?" Galinda was taken aback by the tone, momentarily. "Do I have something in my teeth?" Without another response, Elphaba's annoyance became more apparent. "Fine. Might as well get this over with. No, I'm not seasick. Yes, I've always been green. No, I didn't eat grass as a child."

"I am the Mistress of this household, and you ought to not treat me with such disrespectifyingness."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at this word, and shook her head. She wandered back into the cell, and slammed the door promptly behind her.

* * *

 **Well, there's chapter 2. I'm pumped to start thinking about the next chapter. I think this is going to be fun. *cue maniacal laughter* *actually its just kinda fake deep laughter* *im not intimidating***


	3. Salad

**Alright I'm ready to get chapter 3 up and running! Hopefully you guys will like this!**

 **Do you ever just google image "gelphie" and watch yourself slowly descend into a crying and giggling madness of "holy crap i need more than 1 page of solid proof in the book." I am so sad that this is not real in the musical.**

 **I'm sad that its not real in general tho so whatever. just wanted to share.**

* * *

Galinda stared at the green girl, despite the angry back turned to her. She harrumphed at the rude behavior and made her way down the stairs.

"How do you like that?" Galinda pouted. "I am the Mistress of this home, you know. She ought to treat me with a bit more kindness."

"To be fair, Miss, she's just done a very selfless thing. Lost her home and her family in a day." Grommetik tried to reason. Galinda began walking and Grommetik tuttered quickly along.

"Yes, well, we've lost our family in a day as well."

"And weren't you testy after that day?"

Galinda sighed. "I suppose you're right." She hummed, . "Well, have you the unused rooms clean, Grom?"

"Yes, Miss, the staff and I have dusted and tidied the whole castle. Madame Mayra is preparing dinner as we speak."

"I'm very very impressified, Grom."

"Divide and conquer, Miss."

"Well, thank you very much." Galinda smiled, stopping to turn on her heel and kiss the robot on his little metal head. "You're excellent."

"You're too good, Miss."

Galinda gave a big smile, squeaking a tiny "I know," to his compliment.

* * *

Elphaba watched the ceiling with disdain. This was her home now. No. This was where she lived now. " _But at least I had the library and Doctor Dillamond. And a purpose."_ Elphaba bit back the sudden pang of sadness with a curse. "This sucks." She looked out the window, afraid of the dark grey skies that were approaching. Rain would soak her through the bars of that window, no matter where she moved in the cage. She muttered to herself, afraid and angry.

Suddenly, Tiny Time Dragon poked his smiling head into the room. His ticks alerted Elphaba to his presence. She glanced to him,"Miss... Um, what is your name?"

Elphaba looked to the mechanical Animal distrustfully. "What do you want?"

"Well, Miss," Tiny Time Dragon twitched with a few ticks, "your room is prepared." He opened the door of the little jail.

"This isn't where I'm to stay?"

"No, Miss, not at all. It's the rules for you to be in there. But not for the whole time by any means. Miss Galinda is at full liberty to allow you out." Elphaba raised her eyebrows at the little creature. "She is the Mistress of this manor, after all. She may try to uphold the rules, but she does have some say."

Elphaba glanced behind her once more, too fearful of the approaching storm to question the little machine further. She followed Tiny Time Dragon, her head held high and defiant. He lead her down the stairs to a warm-looking room. In the corner was a closet; beside that closet was another door leading to the restroom; at the back wall there were two windows on either side of a mirror; a desk and chair sat in the very center of the room, atop a floral rug; in a nook to the left of the door was a huge bed with a blue comforter.

"This is all for me?" Never in her life had Elphaba been in possession of such a room. In fact, never in her life had Elphaba been in possession of such a nice blanket, alone.

"Yes, of course, miss. You are our guest." Elphaba ran her hand against the wall as she explored her room. "Madame Krieg will be in soon to take your measurements and the like."

"Measurements?" Elphaba asked, turning back to glance at Tiny Time Dragon.

"New clothes, Miss." Elphaba glanced down to her own, admittedly filthy, clothes. "Miss Galinda insisted."

"Well, thank you," Elphaba nodded, kneeling down to level with Tiny Time Dragon. "I truly do appreciate your generosity, sir."

Tiny Time Dragon gave Elphaba a smile, and Elphaba returned it with a nod. "Madame Krieg will be up soon."

* * *

Elphaba was in her new bed properly dozing off when a knock came at her door. Instantly alert, the witch's hands rose defensively. "Yes?" She called out, though her voice was still husky with sleep.

Instantly, a small teapot on wheels, coated in gears or all sizes, chugged along inside. The spout of the tiny pot extended, and Elphaba noticed the centimeter ticks along its edge.

"Up, up, up, dear," the teapot commanded. "We must get at least one dress made up in time for dinner."

"Madame Krieg, I presume?" Elphaba asked, standing only to appease the little mechanical.

"That would be me, dear." She extended her spout a foot or so more. "Tall one aren't you?" Elphaba's indulgent half-smile turned into a forced grimace. _At least it wasn't a green comment._ Madame Krieg gave a small puff of steam as she wheeled back. "Twig of a thing too, hm?"

"No one's ever been much interested in my weight and height, I'm sure."

"With a dress fitting you like this, can't say I'm surprised, dear."

Elphaba, then, decided that she liked this snarky little teapot. No comments on her skin made up for the presence of the comments on her clothes.

* * *

"What's her name again?" Galinda asked, walking up stairs to Elphaba's room.

"Miss, I'm truly not sure."

"She's a green girl, Time Dragon, how could you forget her name?"

"I'm not sure that she told me, Miss." Tiny Time Dragon explained. Galinda huffed and rolled her eyes. "You may simply ask her again, Miss."

"I suppose I must, mustn't I?" Galinda sighed, and stood outside of the door. She raised her hand as if to knock, but then pulled it back down.

"Krieg has finished her dresses by now?"

"Surely, Mistress. Madame Krieg has said that she looks fine in them as well."

"There's no chance that it would take more time to finish her dresses? Say, tomorrow?"

Grommetik responded with a chuckle,"She will have to eat, Miss, and you'll have to meet her. There's no time like the present."

"Oh, alright," Galinda muttered. She gulped and thought it over in her head. _Just knock. Just the simple little action of knocking. You can do that. You're capable of knocking on a door in your own house._ And so, by not thinking of the implications, Galinda was able to knock on the door.

"What?" came the short reply from the other side of the door.

Galinda winced at the green girl's obvious distaste for her. She blinked hard and elected to take on the respectful tone that Tiny Time Dragon and Grommetik used with her, when she was upset. "Uh, hello, there. You will be joining myself and the staff for dinner tonight, Miss?"

"No."

This response took Galinda aback. "No?" She questioned, her face growing pink. "What do you mean, no?"

There was the briefest of sighs from the other side of the door. "I mean, no, I won't go to dinner."

"What-" Galinda was about to repeat her previous question, but decided against it. She turned to Tiny Time Dragon and Grommetik, "I asked politely, didn't I?"

"You did very well, Miss."

"Then why isn't she being so difficult? I asked politely, and she refused."

"To be fair, it was more of a statement than a question, Mistress." Grommetik tried to reason.

"Well, fine then." Galinda huffed again, trying to calm herself so that her red cheeks would fade back to pink. She turned back to the door. "Miss," she took another deep breath. "would you like to join me for dinner this evening, please?"

On the other side of the door, Elphaba gave another quick refusal.

Galinda huffed, and turned to her staff. "Well, what now?" She looked over her shoulder at the door, her cheeks reddening in her frustration. "Why is she so disrespectifying? The green bean is staying in my house, after all. She is my guest. She ought to show me a bit more..." Galinda huffed, "well, more respect."

"I have a name," Elphaba called from the other side of the door.

"And would you care to enlighten me as to what that is, _Madame?_ " Galinda called through the door.

"Elphaba Thropp," the wicked witch called out, matching the mistress's bitter tone.

"Well, then, Miss Elphaba of the artichokes, would you _please_ join me for dinner?" Galinda began to yell.

"You don't even want me to come to dinner. We both know it. It's simply the principle of the ordeal now." Elphaba replied sharply. In her frustration, she opened the door, poking her head out. Galinda winced at her hue once more, only angering Elphaba further. "I'm right aren't I? Wouldn't want your company to match your salad."

"That's not fair-!" Galinda began, but Elphaba merely rolled her eyes and slammed the door again.

"Enjoy your dinner, my sweet. You are the _mistress of the house_ , after all."

* * *

"This is ridiculosious," Galinda huffed to the staff over the dinner table. " _I_ don't want to have her here. _She_ clearly doesn't want to be here. These stupid rules are just making everyone's lives miserable."

"The rules exist so that you might free all of us from them, Miss. You have to learn to accept and love-"

"And be loved even if the poor thing is disgusticified." Galinda huffed. "I know. It's still stupid."

* * *

Elphaba wore her new navy outfit, admiring the thick and warm fabric in the mirror. The fabric would certainly come in handy in case of any water incidents. The sleeves were long, and the tights beneath covered even her feet. She looked up to examine the neckline, sadly not a turtleneck, and caught sight of her green skin once again, and stared disdainfully at it.

How much harm would it have caused for her to be born normal? How many men would ave died for her to be born with fair skin, like that which Nessa had? How many orphans would be created for her to not be allergic to water? How many flowers would have wilted for her to have been loved by her father and mother?

She was tired of the vegetable comments. The caution she felt about baths. The winces when someone caught sight of her. The disdainful and shameful looks she received from her family when in public. She was tired of having to be mean and bitter in order for these little moments of loathing to come along more sparingly. The only man who had made her feel normal was a Goat. And now, she had lost him too. Elphaba was stuck, in this damn manor, for eternity, with someone who could only hate her for every things she was.

Maybe she didn't have to be stuck.

For now, however, she looked over her reflection, and thought disdainful thoughts.

* * *

 **I'm pretty glad for how this turned out. The next chapter will be a short lee-way of sorts, I believe. I'll proceed to the action in the chapter following that.**

 **Read and review please, dears!**


	4. The Guest

**Here you go, yay!**

* * *

Nessarose arrived back to her home with Henry within the evening. She promptly made her way up to the door, and was greeted warmly by her father. (Frex's fever had quickly died down after a few cups of tea.)

"My pet, I'm so glad that you're home. My, aren't you cold. Let us fix that." He scooped her up lovingly in his arms and brought the girl inside. Nessarose gave him a grateful smile, and nestled into his protective hug.

Nessarose enjoyed and allowed the coddling and doting, especially after the day's events. Affectionate head taps and gentle words kept her smiling. Food was quickly made, and she was fed. This was the first time in a very long time that Frex had personally fed Nessarose. It was simple to say that she enjoyed the attention, even though it was not necessarily out of the ordinary.

Eventually, Frex noticed the set sun, and took Nessarose upstairs to sleep. After a brief kiss goodnight, Frex himself went to bed. Nessa watched as he closed her door behind him. She grinned, then stared at her ceiling quietly for a few moments

She wondered if Frex had merely forgotten about Elphaba, or simply wasn't as invested in her existence as she had previously thought.

* * *

Tiny Time Dragon puttered around the fireplace, discussing with Grommetik how Galinda may fare with this new stranger.

"She's certainly hideous enough that the curse could be about her," Tiny Time Dragon reasoned.

"It's sad that the armless girl could not have stayed. Sure Miss Galinda would have found her easier to get along with," Grommetik responded.

"But," Tiny Time Dragon began, "the armless girl was far from unattractive. The lack of arms would have hardly counted for the resolution of the curse."

"True," Grommetik muttered, "but this girl is so disagreeable!"

"Hopefully the heart she had for her sister will come into the light with time. Perhaps if we treat her as our own daughter or so?"

"I couldn't bring myself to do such a thing. I hardly regard Miss Galinda as my own. She is a guest, and nothing more. We must accept her as if she were an equal to our Galinda, and perhaps Galinda will soon do the same."

* * *

Elphaba was hungry. It was dark out, and snowing. She couldn't eat the snow from her windowsill, even had she wanted to. The only option was to go out of her room, or to wait for breakfast. She was prideful. She was also hungry. Perhaps if she ate at the moment, she wouldn't be hungry when breakfast came around. That would buy her more time to come to terms with her new constant source of harassment. Sure. That was a good idea.

Elphaba opened her door. She looked on either side of the dark hallway, and made her way to the stairs. She gently padded down the stairs and began her search for the kitchen. She soon passed the living room, where a fire caught her eye and she meandered towards it.

Her presence interrupted the conversation between the two robots. They both looked to her, and smiled amicably.

"Hello, Miss Elphaba!" Grommetik chirped. Elphaba, naturally, was caught off guard. She nodded to them briefly, and looked about herself. Should she even bother continuing her venture to the kitchen? How could she find the room anyway, being the stranger that she was?

"Miss Elphaba, whatever are you doing up?" Tiny Time Dragon questioned, much more gently than Grommetik would have.

"No-nothing. I was just, looking around."

Here _would_ be the part where Elphaba's own stomach gave her away. Aha, but not in this fairytale. In this tale, things are very mixed around, if you hadn't noticed. So, no, Elphaba's stomach did not growl. However, the staff was well trained.

Without polite inquiry, Tiny Time Dragon lead Elphaba to the dining room, much to Grommetik's distress. "Mistress Galinda-"

"Will be fine. She doesn't have to know if you believe feeding our _guest_ would displease her so." Tiny Time Dragon smiled to Grommetik cordially, despite his fiery tone. Grommetik sputtered a half-hearted response, not willing to argue at this late at night. At this, Tiny Time Dragon smiles, "Wonderful. Now, Miss Elphaba," he pulled out the chair at the head of the table, "I assure you the rest of the staff and I are most anxious to serve you."

"I, well," Elphaba instantly stammered. She was not at all used to "you" being the direct object in any sentence where "serve" was the active verb. No, Elphaba served others, served her sister. This was an odd, and at the time, seemingly cruel, twist of fate.

Grommetik, being the man who had previously trained Mistress Galinda in all of her manners and such gave a stubborn tsk-tsk. "Mechanicals sputter, Miss. Ladies do not."

"I apologize, sincerely," Elphaba stated, quietly but clearly. Grommetik smiled his mechanical smile, glad he did not have to remind the girl not to mumble. Tiny Time Dragon, too, quirked a tin lip at this turn of events.

"What would you like to have, Miss?" Tiny Time Dragon questioned politely. Elphaba, who was by no-means comfortable with such a setup, thought a moment.

"I am more than content with whatever you are to prepare." Elphaba thought a moment more. "I'm not very fond of meat, and I can't have water, however."

"Excellent. The staff will love such a challenge."

"A challenge?" Elphaba questioned, her voice cracking ever so slightly, "If I've become a challenge, sir, by no means continue. I can eat whatever's set before me, and-"

Tiny Tim Dragon cleared his throat, stopping Elphaba mid-sentence. She looked attentively at him, concerned. Tiny Time Dragon gave that reassuring tin smile, "My dear, the challenge will not be creating some vegetarian fare for you. It will be, however, picking out what to make. We are much more used to directions on creating dinner. It will be nice to show off what we can do."

"Oh." Elphaba noticeably calmed.

"Yes. We are most excited to have a guest. So, allow us to treat you as one." Elphaba flinched at the term "guest." She felt more like a prisoner. But, she looked again to Tiny Time Dragon and Grommetik, who had been treating her with such kindness. Tiny Time Dragon gave her a final reassuring smile, "Please, Miss, odd as it may be, do be our guest."

Elphaba nodded, unsure of what else to do.

* * *

Dinner was a grand but quiet affair. Elphaba was purely in-awe of the staff's attention to detail and level of careful generosity. Upon leaving the dining room, Elphaba decided that she felt more at liberty to make requests of these objects. And so, she did.

"Mr. Grommetik, Mr. Time Dragon?"

"Now, Miss Elphaba, your formality is appreciated, but wasted on us. What may we do for you?"

"Well, I was hoping I could have a little tour of the manor?"

The gentlemen smiled broadly, "certainly!"

* * *

Grommetik lead the tour with great pizzazz and joy. He showed her this and that, explaining to her briefly where she was and wasn't allowed. Elphaba listened kindly, and silently took note of every door to the outside world.

"And this is the west wing staircase, where you are not to be in a million years, Miss Elphaba, so don't push your luck."

"I have no intention, nor desire, to examine the west wing."

"Very good, then." Grommetik continued the tour, and Elphaba continued her mental list of every possibly exit.

The tour ended back at Elphaba's room, where she gratefully retired.

"The east wing seems to be the safest point of exit," she muttered to herself. She looked outside, and was far too afraid of the weather to exit now. Such weather would last for months. And if she were to escape, would these things send someone to retrieve her or Nessarose? She looked about herself, and examined the room in which she stood. Upon looking at a room, so very different than hers at home, that she would be fed no matter what. She realized that these people would be generous enough to feed her, even if she didn't leave her room. And she, by no means, wanted to leave her room.

At home, on days when Elphaba was not feeling up to leaving her room, for some reason or another, her father wouldn't bring her supper. If she were to eat, she had to go downstairs and associate with her family. Often, this was not an issue. She would read away in her room, and have completely forgotten about food until the book, or the series, was finished. Elphaba mumbled to herself, remembering this. "If I just had a book or something, I wouldn't even think about going out of this room."

She decided to scrounge around in the drawers, and finally found a dusty book. It was a collection of children's stories. It was not, by any means, what Elphaba enjoyed reading. However, she knew that she could easily get into any book, and ignore the outside world. Elphaba opened this dusty book, and began reading.

After reading through it about three times, she noticed that the sun had risen, and that there was a plate sitting by her door. "I don't think I'll ever have to see anyone ever again," Elphaba whispered, the hint of a smile sneaking onto her face. She hugged the book to her chest, and thanked whatever deity her father said could maybe possibly love her, if she behaved.

* * *

 **Pretty proud of this one.**


	5. The Poisoned Muffin and Odd Tea

**Been a bit since I've worked on this, just because it's a hard chapter to start. Hope it works out for the best.**

* * *

Elphaba had spent weeks in her room. She didn't respond when someone knocked at her door, as she hardly heard them. She read the same book over and over, and it did grow repetitive, but she maintained her interest. After eating her breakfast one morning, and setting the plate where she found it, as she always did, she wondered if the little Dragon and robot would be kind enough to get her another, bigger book. She decided quickly that she didn't want to be a bother, and set to work writing a book report for each of the tiny tales (her newest distraction tactic.)

* * *

Galinda had had it about up to _here_ with that green girl and her disrespectifyingness.

Grommetik and Tiny Time Dragon had told her that this girl could be the one to break the spell. After a week of mutually ignoring one another, Galinda finally began to crack. Perhaps that girl could be the one to become her friend. And Galinda simply hated being ignored so completely, so she had begun to seek out the company of the green girl.

That artichoke never answered her, when she knocked on the door. She never attended dinner, or went about completing any of the obligatory tasks a guest should complete. Like, per se, interacting with the hostess?

Galinda had lived with only her staff for a very long time. The instant she got someone new to communicate with, they were simply awful company. And Galinda had had it up to _here_ with her. She had been trying to respectfully knock on the door and invite the girl out for weeks. Never did she get so much as a huff in response.

Well, if respectifying _Miss_ Elphaba wouldn't bring her out, Galinda would simply have to fight disrespectifyingness with disrespectifyingness. So, Galinda decided to try again.

* * *

Miss Galinda stormed up to that lousy door and pounded. It actually startled Elphaba into looking up from grading her own reports.

"Miss Elphaba, I _demand_ that you come out right this instant!" Elphaba, on the other side of the door, rolled her eyes, and returned to her work.

"I will open this door myself if I have to!" Galinda responded to the silence. Without even looking up, Elphaba again rolled her eyes.

" _Fine_ , then!" Galinda called and opened the door. Elphaba glanced up, slightly afraid of the tiny mistress's wrath. She would never admit to such a thing, however. Years with Frex had taught her that.

"What in Oz are you _doing_?" Galinda asked, looking at the papers under Elphaba's nose. Elphaba looked between the papers and Miss Galinda, fearful that her hard work would suffer the same fate here as it had at her home. She refused to be afraid of Miss Galinda, so her fear took the form of anger.

"I'm working." Elphaba stated with a precision that didn't match the tone of her voice. She knew that in her father's house, the papers would immediately be snatched away. With the tone of voice she used, she imagined she would probably be disciplined as well. This, however, was not her father's house.

"What in Oz could you be working _on_? You've been in this Oz-forsaken castle for the past month." Elphaba's defenses shot up, but not nearly as much as they typically did against her father. She was frightened, but unlike at home, she was not scared into silent obedience.

 _It's just like in town,_ Elphaba thought during the quiet stand off, _except now there's no one to tell on me to father._ This thought boosted her confidence all the more. Maintaining eye contact, Elphaba spoke, "What I do is none of your business, _Miss_ Galinda."

If Galinda's anger could have been any more obvious, it would have been a wall dividing them.

"Whatever. I _demand_ you come _out_ of this room and talk to me by the end of tonight. Are we clear?"

Elphaba stood, feeling far safer now that she was not staring up at the fury of the tiny blonde. Watching the angry face from down her pointed nose gave her the impression of the upper hand. She glanced behind Galinda briefly to witness Tiny Time Dragon and Grommetik silently begging her to agree. Those two were kind, weren't they? Couldn't they be trusted?

"Well?" Galinda snapped, her anger masking the intimidation she felt when she was no longer the taller of the two of them. She just wanted to talk to this Oz-forsaken girl for half a minute. Galinda just wanted to make nice enough that she could leave this awful castle. _Is that so much to ask?_ She thought. _A friend for two minutes?_

Elphaba watched the girl for a moment, still debating her response. She could never recall being "demanded" to do something, and then being asked to respond. It didn't seem much like a firm demand to her.

"I would like you to get out of my room, _Miss_ Galinda."

Galinda balked. Nothing was working, absolutely nothing. "Fine, then! Just keep being unreasonable. What do I care?" She turned to stomp out of the room.

"Apparently very much," Elphaba smirked. Galinda whipped around, fire in her eyes. They maintained that eye contact for a few seconds longer, then Galinda harrumphed and made her way out of Elphaba's room, slamming the door behind her. Elphaba almost felt bad for upsetting her so.

 _Almost,_ she thought, _but not really._

* * *

"I absolutely _loath_ her!" Galinda exclaimed to Grommetik and Tiny Time Dragon.

"What would you suggest we do, Miss?"

"I don't _know_ , Grom! I just want to talk to her. The a green thing-like-her's probably never had a friend in her life, but she's too good for _me?_ "

"Perhaps she just doesn't know how to communicate well with you?"

"I just cannot deal with this. I cannot deal with her. It's like having a poisoned muffin in my home."

"A muffin, Miss?"

"Yes, Grom, a _muffin_!" She harrumphed. "She's too disgusticified to be a cupcake."

"I'm not sure I understand, Miss."

"She's a poisoned muffin, Grom, what is there to misunderstand?" Galinda sighed. "I thought she was a fine muffin. Perhaps a little moldy, but it wouldn't kill me. But, no, she's a poisoned muffin. I, the figurative starving girl, thought I could ease that starvingness with that moldy little muffin, but she's poison, Grom. Dealing with her'd kill me before the starvingness would!"

"So you don't want to try to break the curse anymore, Miss?" Grommetik asked. Galinda crossed her arm and thought, blowing a few of her curls out of her face.

"No, I want to get out of here more than anything in the world, Grom. You know that. But _not_ with _her._ Such _torture_ as befriending _her_ isn't worth it."

"So, what is the plan now, Miss?"

Galinda looked around herself, thinking, and somehow spotted the ugliest little hat. She recalled that her aunt had once gifted it to her, very long ago. "May as well have some fun."

"Miss?"

"I've always wanted to see how ridiculous such a thing would look on someone. I've just never lowered my standards enough to try it on."

"So, you're giving the hat to the girl?"

"I'm giving this awful hat to that awful green bean."

* * *

"Miss Elphaba Thropp?" Galinda called, knocking with as much docility as she could muster despite her disdain for the girl behind the door.

"What?" Came Elphaba's short reply.

"I'm coming in."

"Oh, _goody,_ " Elphaba rolled her eyes, her aptitude for sarcasm nearly impressing Galinda. When Galinda entered, Elphaba kept her eyes on her, slightly suspicious.

Galinda presented the hat and balked at how interested Elphaba's eyes became at its appearance. It looked almost as if she _liked_ such a disgusting accessory. On the off chance that Elphaba may actually like such a hat, Galinda mended her plan.

"I'm thinking of getting a hat like this, but in a different shade." Galinda lied easily. "I want to see how the shape looks though, and I just can't focus on its shape in the mirror due to it's color. Would you please try it on for me?"

* * *

Elphaba had been working quickly on an escape plan, to be executed that evening, when Galinda announced her entrance. Elphaba had never had pretty things. But looking at that little hat, for some odd reason, interested her in the way pretty things like this only ever interested Nessarose. Elphaba wondered if this was odd, to enjoy the look of a simple article of clothing as much as she did that hat.

Galinda asked her to try it on, and Elphaba felt her typical desire to be difficult. However, the idea of trying on such a hat interested her: she wanted to know if it felt as comfortable as it appeared. So, Elphaba agreed.

She put the hat on her head and almost felt the urge to smile at the sense of security it mysteriously provided. It felt like a warm cloak on a cold day, but just for her head. She could wear such a hat on rainy days, and not have to keep her long hair down as a layer of protection. Such a hat would protect her. It was an odd feeling, but Elphaba enjoyed it, none the less. She didn't notice Galinda holding back laughter.

"Well, the shape isn't what I wanted anyways. Too bad." Galinda said, snapping Elphaba out of her odd train of thought. Elphaba glanced at her, nodded, and gave her back the hat. "And I _was_ able to focus on the shape too, seeing as it doesn't clash with you."

"Glad I could be of service," Elphaba muttered, and rolled her eyes, her dour nature returning. Galinda smiled as amicably as she could force herself to, and made her way out of the room.

Elphaba looked about the room, feeling slightly selfish for leaving after such hospitality. She'd never been able to try on such a fine article of clothing before. Elphaba quickly brushed this aside, thinking of Doctor Dillamond and Henry and Nessarose and her father. She didn't notice the giggles from outside her door, as she sat and continued to work on her escape plan.

* * *

She sneaked downstairs and to the east exit. She fastened her cloak more carefully around herself, tying up her hair and wrapping her face in a turban-esque way. She pulled on her gloves, which she had left in her cloak pocket, and opened the door.

Snow, rather than rain, greeted her. She instantly sighed and tried to come up with some solution. Quickly, a pair of rain-boots caught her eye. She pulled them over shoes, smiling, then set out into the world.

Running away was an odd thing: she had done so before as a child, but the weather had always pulled her back. Now, she was running away in the exact weather she tried to avoid.

So, it only seemed fitting, that instead of the weather stopping her, the huge wall surrounding the manor did.

She sighed, not wanting to use magic for selfish means, and searched for the crack from which she had come.

* * *

Galinda was upset with the entire ordeal. It was hilarious to see that awful hat on Elphaba, but it was less funny when she saw how taken the girl was with it. She wasn't sure how she felt, or even how she should have felt. So she settled for pouting, and looking out the window at the snow.

And then the green girl came into her line of sight.

"Are you serious?" Galinda nearly shrieked. She huffed and made her way promptly downstairs and out the front door.

"Miss Elphaba, you stop right this instant!"

Elphaba looked back at her and sighed. Of course this would happen. Quickly, though, she found the original crack in the wall. She magicked it wider, trying to ignore the quickly-approaching Galinda's angry rant.

"If anyone deserves to leave this damn castle, it is _me_! I've been here for who-knows-how long, and you've been here for literally less than two months! How incredibly selfish can you be?"

Galinda tried to follow her out of the crevice, but immediately after Elphaba had exited, the hole began to shrink again. So, Galinda was caught in the most humorous position, with her top half outside of the wall, and her bottom half restricted from following by her gown.

"Oh are you serious?" Galinda asked again.

Elphaba looked back, feeling a slight pang of guilt, but then continued onward. The staff would get her soon, surely. But the angry girl hadn't the mind to have put on a coat. And surely she was freezing in those tiny heels.

After entering the forest, and feeling the sting of the melting snow on her skin, Elphaba reweighed her options.

Did she actually want to go back to the village? Could she even get home if she did? Was it even home if she wasn't wanted, nor wanted to be there?

Father was happier with just Nessa. Nessa was surely happy so long as she had the spotlight. Henry had never given her any indication, other than his typical obedience, that he cared for her especially. So that left Doctor Dillamond.

Was the love she believe she and the Goat exchanged worth the hatred of everyone else?

And would she even be able to find her way home?

Perhaps so, but in the moment, Elphaba could not see how. She sighed, her self-loathing growing by the moment, and returned to the castle.

* * *

Galinda was an angry-crier. So in her frustration at Elphaba, and being stuck in this wall, and the entire situation, she let tears fall from her eyes.

And then Elphaba returned.

And Galinda was too confused to decide if these emotions implied she should cry harder, or for a different reason, or stop crying at all.

Elphaba sighed, and magicked the crevice wider. She collected a freezing blond and lead her inside the castle.

With a gentleness only Nessarose had ever previously experienced, Elphaba sat Galinda down by the fire. She put her hand gently to Galinda's forehead and hummed.

"Miss Galinda, are you hurt?"

Miss Galinda couldn't bring herself to reply, still upset by the entire situation. All she had done was try to follow those stupid rules!

Elphaba noticed that Galinda's dress had a tear or two around the waist. Through the tears, there were the beginnings of bruises, and little scrapes. Elphaba nodded to herself and tended to the bruises and scrapes gently, only tearing Galinda's dress a bit more in the process.

"I'm sorry, Miss Galinda." Elphaba finally sighed. "Hold still, and I'll be right back." Elphaba went to leave, but then quickly turned around to place a blanket over the tiny blonde's shoulders. Galinda stayed put, still unsure of what to do. She couldn't remember being this carefully cared for since her parents.

Elphaba quickly returned, with a cup of tea on a tiny saucer. She gave it to Galinda's hands, thankful that the Mistress was no longer shivering. "Drink that, and then maybe you should go up to your room and lie down." Galinda sipped the drink, unable to be anything but obedient. Her sense came back to her after taking a long drink.

"Why does this taste so weird?

"I, well, I'm pretty good with, um. I mean." Elphaba sighed and re-straightened herself out. She knew better than to stutter. "I put an analgesic in it, to help with any pain you might be feeling. I figured you weren't in good shape, if you weren't chattering at me." Galinda, for some reason, smiled at the tiny teasing. Elphaba, not sure why Galinda was smiling at her off-putting nature, continued. "And a few weeks ago, Mrs. Kreig mentioned to me that you have an awful sweet tooth. So, I put in a lot of sugar. I didn't know how much you liked, but I assumed the more the better. I'm sorry I was mistaken."

"No, no. It's fine. Just different." Galinda took another sip, and gave Elphaba a reassuring smile. "Very good, actually. Just also very different."

"So, you're alright, Miss?"

"I'm perfectly fine. Thank you, Miss Elphaba." Galinda tried to hold back a yawn. "I'm sorry, but I think I will be retiring now. Today's been a bit exhaustifying, hasn't it?" Galinda stood and began to make her way to her room in the West Wing. "Well, nighty-night."

Elphaba nodded and went to her own room. She undressed herself, wincing at the blotchy series of burns that covered her legs and arms.

And she didn't have any of her oils to help heal it.

Finding herself confused and upset beyond reason, Elphaba just climbed into bed and hoped that sleep would cure the taste of hell on her arms and legs.

* * *

 **This one actually had a lot of finagling in it. Had to cut and paste and change some things around. But I like the way this ended up.**


	6. In Favor of Buckets

Nessarose was enjoying a bustling morning in town. Her father was only a few paces away, praying with a few farmers. It seemed that their crops were a reflection on their morality as of late. Nessa huffed, proud that she had no need to deal with such poor reflections on her own morality. She made her way to the fountain in the center of the town square, and sat. While she may have been having a fine time of looking at the bright pennies in the water, she was desperate to talk with someone. When she heard a gunshot, she perked up. She smiled girlishly as Fiyero and Boq approached.

"Good morning, Boq. And Fiyero." Nessa gleamed, her eyes never leaving the shorter of the two of them.

"Miss Nessarose, how do you do?" Fiyero charmed half-heartedly. It was no secret that Nessa never paid him any attention.

"Oh, just wonderful. And how do you do, Boq?"

"I'm fine, Nessa." Boq backed up a step, uncomfortable with the way her eyes never seemed to leave him.

"So, Nessa, how have things been? Been awful peaceful around her lately, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes, totally," Nessa hummed. "Boq, would you be a dear and help me stand up?"

Boq sighed and cast a glance above to the cruel unnamed God. "Certainly," he replied and cordially helped the armless girl to stand.

"So, how was your hunt, Boq?" Nessarose asked, clearly not interested in much than just the fact that he would be replying.

"Actually," Fiyero answered for him, "hunts recently have been awesome. Especially without having to go through the WWF." He laughed quietly. "Get it, Boq? 'Cause, like, WWF could also mean 'wicked witch fu-"

"Yes, _everyone gets it,_ Fiyero," Boq responded testily, still being crowded by the youngest Thropp.

Fiyero chuckled in reply, "where _is_ our local wildlife expert, Nessa? I've almost missed fighting with her."

"Oh, didn't you know?" Nessa asked, her eyes still trained on Boq, "a few weeks ago, I was captured by this lady in a castle. Elphaba and I switched places so that I could come home to you, Boq." Boq groaned and sent a silent curse to the unnamed God.

"You stuck some lady with the green thing? Must've matched looks or something right, if she was trying to kidnap anyone."

"Oh, no, she was a decently pretty lady, if you ask me." She waited expectantly for Boq to say something along the lines of _'oh but no one could top you, Miss Nessarose.'_ However, such a sentiment never came.

"You left a pretty lady in a castle with the green monstrosity?"

"Mm-hmm," Nessa hummed distractedly. Boq adjusted his collar.

"I think I'd like to meet her, and give the poor thing my condolences. How does that sound to you, Boq?"

"Yeah. Let's get out of here - I mean, let's go meet this martyr."

* * *

Galinda arose and made her way down to breakfast. She was in a better mood than she had been in weeks. _Perhaps there was something else funny in that tea,_ Galinda giggled to herself. She sat down at the breakfast table, all giggles and smiles, and the staff addressed her with a touch of concern.

"How did you sleep, Miss?"

"Oh, I slept perfectly, Tiny Time Dragon, thank you for asking!" She continued to eat, the miscellaneous objects making light chit-chat. Madame Krieg caught Galinda's eye as the tiny pot began to leave the room with a tray of food balanced on its spout. "Madame Krieg?"

"Yes, Miss?"

"What're you doing?"

"Just taking breakfast to Miss Elphaba, Miss."

"Oh, well, here," Galinda stood and took the tray from atop Madame Krieg's spout. "I'll take it up to her. You enjoy your morning." The staff looked among themselves again with a shared sense of concern.

"Are you sure, Miss? It's really no trouble."

"Then it should be no trouble for me to do it either. Go on, enjoy your morning." Galinda smiled at the little pot, and began to make her way upstairs.

"You're too good, Miss!" Madame Krieg called out in thanks.

Galinda turned and gave the mechanical pot one of her million-dollar smiles, "I know!"

* * *

"Miss Elphaba?" Galinda gently asked, rapping lightly on the door. "May I come in?" When the Mistress of the house received no response, she took it as an affirmative and made her way into the room. Lying on the bed, stiff and silent, was a sleeping Elphaba.

"Miss Elphaba?" Galinda asked again, putting the tray on her bedside table. She lightly put a hand on the green girl's shoulder in an attempt to rouse her. Immediately, Elphaba shot up, her eyes wide with panic.

"What are you doing?" Elphaba asked once she had collected herself.

"I brought you breakfast," Galinda replied simply. Elphaba looked her up and down, then noticed the tray on her table. The green girl stood, and began to make her bed, too flustered to carry on a conversation without doing something with her hands.

"Was Madame Krieg sick or something?"

"No."

Elphaba paused, looking back up at the blonde. "Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to bring you breakfast, silly." Elphaba looked the girl up and down, trying to decide how to respond.

"Oh." There was a short pause. "Thank you."

"You're most welcome, Elphaba." Elphaba's interest piqued at the sudden lack of formality, but decided that it didn't bother her enough to begin another fight.

"So..." Galinda trailed off, clicking her tongue, unsure of how to prevent this awkward silence from becoming unbearable. She thought back to all of her little suitors and escorts when she was younger. If she wasn't interested, Galinda would ignore them like Elphaba was ignoring her. Albeit, more politely. She thought along the many evenings and balls, and realized that she had talked to all of these boys much more agreeably after they complimented her. Perhaps that was a good way to start. But what was there to compliment in Elphaba?

"I prefer to crochet, Miss Galinda," Elphaba finally grumped, snapping the blonde out of trying to find something nice to say about her.

"What?"

"I said, I prefer to crochet, Miss Galinda." Galinda glanced at her for a moment longer, before laughing lightly.

"Because I said 'so,' right?"

"No. Because you said 'so,' and then stood there staring into space, clicking your tongue like you were being paid to." Elphaba sighed lightly.

"I apologize - I'll remember to finish the sentences I start." There was another short pause, in which Galinda struggled to keep from clicking her tongue, as she typically did in these awkward silences. She was still unable to think of anything to say kind about Elphaba, and she was getting antsy as the time passed. (Which was only about ninety seconds.) Elphaba watched in amusement as Galinda bit the inside of her lip, which quickly turned into a pity.

"There's nothing wrong with silence, Miss Galinda."

"What?"

"There's nothing wrong with a break in conversation. You don't always have to fill the silence."

"It's not proper to be silent so long with guests. It makes them feel awkward."

Elphaba bit back a laugh. "Miss Galinda, as if being a teenager wasn't awkward enough, I'm also built like a twig, clumsy, and _green_ as we have established. If anyone were able to make me feel exceptionally awkward, my money would not be placed on you."

"Oh." Galinda thought a moment more, then realized she had a legitimate question, and was no longer trying to just fill silence. "You're a teenager?"

Elphaba nodded briefly, "Only for a few more months, though. I'll be twenty in late summer."

"That's exciting."

"It's just another year. Another year further from the chaos that was my birth, and closer to death."

"Well, that's a little morbid, don't you think? Birthdays are to celebrate life."

"People aren't exactly lining up to celebrate my life, Miss Galinda," Elphaba said, looking around slightly. "Certainly not at home, and certainly not here."

Galinda wasn't sure how to respond, so she waited and tried to see if this silence was any less awkward than the last. When, after a few seconds, it was no less awkward, she tried to think of something else to say.

"What you did," Galinda finally said, "for your sister? That was very kind."

"How do you know?" Elphaba asked seriously, but with the intention of teasing. "Maybe where we lived, there was a great fiery dragon, just dying to eat all of the arm-less little girls in the village."

"Was there?"

"No, but that's beside the point."

"I don't think it is. You did a very kind thing for your sister. Why don't you want any affirmation for that?"

"Because, Miss Galinda, I don't live for affirmation or thanks. And, it isn't kind, at least not to my home. It's my duty, my job, to take care of Nessa. I don't do nice things and I never intend to."

"What you did for me last night was very kind. And it is not your job to take care of me," Galinda reasoned. Elphaba glanced away for a moment, thinking.

"That's why you're talking to me this morning, isn't it? You feel you owe me?" Elphaba didn't look up, but Galinda looked shocked before thinking a moment about her answer.

"No. I'm talking to you because there might be some good in you. You proved that to me by making me 'owe you' last night." Galinda stood firm in her response, even Elphaba looked up, her gaze stern as always.

After a moment of eye contact, Elphaba bit back another rueful laugh, in favor of sighing. "No good deed goes unpunished."

"Pardon me?" Galinda challenged.

Elphaba shrugged, unwilling to share her tiny piece of humor, and went back to tucking corners under her bed. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." At this, Galinda deemed the conversation over, and successfully so, and departed.

Did conversations always have to be successful or not?

* * *

For the next several days, Galinda would come into Elphaba's room during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and try to force a conversation out of her. While, if it were any other guest, Galinda would have been put off by Elphaba's constant snarky comments, they simply seemed to fit the green girl. It had been quite some time since Galinda had gotten to spar with someone, and so she began to appreciate Elphaba's awful sense of humor all the more.

Galinda had never known anyone quite like Elphaba. Thus, she'd never had a relationship like hers with Elphaba, which was riddled with tiny debates and offhanded comments. Galinda thought that their topics were mature and impersonal, but Elphaba never told her about her opinions on the little things, or of her past. Galinda felt she knew nothing about her, and hoped with each conversation that she could learn at least something. Thus, it took a while for Galinda to understand that she had formed a friendship with the green girl, or at least the start of one.

It didn't take Elphaba very long to enjoy Galinda's company. They debated, like Doctor Dillamond said they did in universities. She was sometimes annoyed, and always acted that way, but to the bottom of her heart, liked her conversations with the little blonde.

Why, she didn't know, but Elphaba kept comparing Galinda to her father. Frex would have locked her in her room by now, for her impertinent tone. For the topics of their discussion, which were often the rights of Animals, or politics, or religion, Frex would have disciplined her for putting her awful green nose in things that she wasn't meant to discuss. He would always use that term: "not meant to discuss." He'd say it when taking away her books, or sending her to her room for questioning his sermons, or hitting her when Fiyero "told on her," for lack of a better term. She often wondered if he was being sexist, or discouraging her intellectual pursuits, or if he simply didn't like dealing with her.

But Galinda encouraged it. She didn't stop visiting because Elphaba would snark. She seemed to take an interest in what Elphaba thought, what she was passionate about. With Galinda, there was no "not meant to discuss." It was so very different, and so very welcomed.

After one of their discussions about how charisma was important in politics -far more so than actual wit- Galinda bounced onto Elphaba's bed. "You know what we should do?"

"Enlighten me."

"We should play Truth or Dare, Elphie-" Galinda almost stopped saying her name there, but knew better, "-ba."

"What's Truth or Dare?" Elphaba asked disguising her interest with skepticism.

"You've never played?"

"I was never one for games."

"Oh." Galinda briefly explained the game, and Elphaba's interest faded to skepticism. Regardless, Elphaba obliged Galinda.

"Okay, Elphaba, truth or dare?"

"Um." Elphaba glanced around the room for anything breakable. "Dare."

Galinda thought for a moment, then her face lit up. "I dare you to let me call you by a nickname."

"I swear to Oz, if you call me artichoke-"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I was thinking 'Elphie.' Do you like it?"

"Well," Elphaba bit back a laugh which became a sigh, "It's a little perky."

"Too bad. You picked dare. Okay, now, my turn."

"Okay, Galinda, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Galinda said excitedly - she hadn't played since she was small. Elphaba smirked.

"I dare you to let me call you by a nickname too."

"Ooh! Okay," Galinda smiled.

"Alright, _Glinda_ what's next?" Elphaba's smirk grew as Galinda huffed about the fairness of such a nickname. "Hey, dare's a dare, right, Glinda?"

Galinda started to laugh at the irony of it all. "Oh, shove off. Okay. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Alright..." Galinda hummed for a minute then smiled. "What's your biggest secret?"

Elphaba thought a moment then replied, "My father hates me-" Galinda began to interrupt, "-but that's no secret. The secret is that he has valid reason to." Galinda prodded, and Elphaba begrudgingly told about Nessa's birth and her mother's death.

"That's not your fault, Elphie." Galinda muttered at the end of the tale. "That's your father's fault."

Elphaba looked flustered for a moment, then quickly asked, "truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Um. I dare you to..." Elphaba couldn't think of anything good, so she just shrugged. "I dare you to take that dumb flower out of your hair."

Galinda rolled her eyes and obliged her. "You're not very original."

"I never said that I was."

Galinda took the flower out of her hair, and in a small retaliation, put it in Elphaba's hair instead. "Pink goes good with green. Truth or dare?"

Elphaba thought a moment and didn't think that she was hiding too much else that could be answered by only one question. "Truth."

"What're those little bottles in your bag for?"

"Bathing." Elphaba answered, and Galinda raised an eyebrow. "They're just bathing oils, really. Truth or dare"

"Why do you need bathing oils - what about all the soap we've got?"

"Truth or dare, Glinda."

"Ugh... Truth."

"How long have you been here?"

"Too long. Probably about five years now." Galinda was far from phased by this question, and quickly asked Elphaba, "Elphie, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to tell me why you need bathing oils."

"You're impossible." Elphaba took a deep breath and leaned back on her hands. "I'm allergic to water."

"Wait, what?"

"It, I mean," Elphaba took a moment and tried to formulate an appropriate description of what water did to her. "Burns."

"Water burns you?" Galinda asked, then realized she wasn't being very polite, being so pushy, so she lightened the mood. "So, bathing suits are a no-go?" Elphaba nodded, distracted.

"You won't tell people, will you?"

"What? Who would I tell?"

"There's a lot of people who really don't like me back home."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It probably wouldn't take too much for them to mob against me." Elphaba shuddered, "and if they knew it would only take a little rain, they would save money on torches and pitchforks in favor of buckets."

* * *

After that night, the girls grew much closer. Something about that conversation built a trust between them, rather than making Elphaba paranoid. Elphaba was exhausted by the social interaction, and soon went to bed. Only a few hours later, after the castle had fallen asleep, Galinda left that awful hat and a note on Elphaba's desk.

Elphaba saw that hat on her desk when she awoke, early the next morning. She saw the note sticking out from under the rim of the hat, and read it carefully: " _It's not my color,_ " written in that flowing script. Elphaba brushed her fingers against the black fabric and put it on. She took the note, feeling oddly sentimental, and replaced her bookmark with it.

That was the first morning Elphaba joined everyone downstairs for breakfast.

* * *

 **I'm actually pretty proud of this one. Hope you enjoyed it as well! Read and Review**


	7. Thy Sheath

**Who all's excited?**

* * *

Elphaba began coming to breakfast every day, wearing that hat and the hint of a grin. Galinda was excited to have her around, and was overjoyed when Elphaba would come to other meals as well.

After an Elphaba-less lunch one day, Galinda went upstairs to check on her. Elphaba was writing lazily on a piece of paper, that large old book open.

"Elphie?" Galinda asked, startling Elphaba. When Elphaba looked to her, and her face softened, Galinda smiled brightly. "Has no one ever shown you the library?" Elphaba's eyes grew wide as she shook her head. Galinda took her arm and lead her to the double doors of the large library.

"I had the staff clean it up recently." Galinda opened the curtains, letting in the bright light of the sun, illuminating the shelves.

That was the first time Galinda saw Elphaba _really_ smile. It was so authentic and genuine, and Galinda noticed that Elphaba lightly bit her bottom lip in her excitement.

The green girl stood up straighter as she took in the world around her, looking positively overwhelmed. "It's alphabetical, I believe," Galinda provided. Elphaba, had she not been Elphaba, would have hugged the little blonde. But instead, Elphaba grabbed her wrist loosely, that big smile not dissipating.

"Have you ever read Machiavelli?" Elphaba asked excitedly, moving towards the M's. She then paused, "No, you'd be more of a Shakespeare girl, wouldn't you? Oh, no, Vasari. You'd love Vasari. Not that Shakespeare isn't great and all, but you'd probably like the comedies, and I prefer the histories. And Vasari's all about the Renaissance. You like to draw, right?"

Galinda hadn't ever heard Elphaba talk so quickly, and she loved every rushed syllable.

"But maybe you would like Machiavelli. He's a personal favorite. Not that I agree with everyth-" Elphaba rushed until she noticed Galinda staring at her. "What?"

"Miss Elphaba, look at you. You're beautiful."

Elphaba chuckled lightly, and replied sarcastically, "Yeah, right. Come on." Elphaba lead Galinda over to the M's to search for Machiavelli, and then quickly lead Galinda to the S's.

"I do appreciate the histories and tragedies more, but I can read any Shakespeare," Elphaba muttered. "Glinda, do you read much?"

"No, and not very well. I truthfully haven't read much of anything since I was a little girl," Galinda shrugged.

Elphaba looked concerned for a moment and then perked up again. "Pick one out. I know you'll like these. We can read it together. Unless you would like to look at that Vasari's works - he's very -"

"Elphie, that sounds like a great idea," Galinda interrupted. Elphaba's smile widened, showing her teeth. The thought that these books could excite her so much swept Galinda up in the excitement as well.

"I've really _really_ missed these," Elphaba's smile faded into an apologetic smirk. "Sorry to be so... Energetic, I guess."

"I'm sorry this wasn't shown to you sooner."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Elphaba hummed and traced the leather bindings of the books before her. "Dillamond would love this too." Elphaba once again had to snap herself out of her head, then glanced to Galinda and smiled warmly to her. "Well, come on. Let's start with Shakespeare."

* * *

"- Never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo." Elphaba finished, her voice deep. She'd realized how difficult it would be to read the script without sounding repetitive, so she made different voices for each of the characters instead. It kept Galinda amused and fascinated; the blonde had trouble deciding between crying at Juliet's death or giggling at the over-dramatic voice Elphaba used. (She decided to cry at the sorrow of the whole story, and that she would then ask Elphaba to read that scene again. By now, though, she was lost in her sadness.)

"Wh-why wa-as the friar s-so freaking stupid?" Galinda asked into Elphaba's dress as she cried.

"He thought he was doing the right thing, Glin," Elphaba muttered, strangely not uncomfortable with the hug she was caught in. Her dress was thick enough to offer her friend this comfort, in spite of any tears. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty, my sweet." Galinda nodded into Elphaba's dress and sat up when she'd regained her composure.

"But then why was Romeo so freaking stupid? He said himself that she didn't look dead yet."

"Well, I think that he believed he was either in denial, and couldn't trust his sense, or that he thought he was just too in love to notice if she was beautiful or not any more. Sometimes situations make us not trust ourselves because emotions often shift reality. We feel crazy sometimes, and I think grief makes everyone more than a little crazy, don't you?"

"I guess..." Galinda trailed off, feeling better. "Hey, Elphaba? Can you read.." she flipped back a few pages in the book, ".. That page again?"

Elphaba glanced over it, and nodded. " _O, happy dagger, this is thy sheath,"_ her voice was nasally and high pitched. With an extra dramatic gasp to make Galinda laugh, she fell against Galinda and delivered, " _There, rust and let me die_... And now she's dead." Galinda was back to her laughing self again after Elphaba's little encore.

"Thank you, Elphie," she hiccuped through giggles. Elphaba nodded, her face soft as she watched the blonde laugh.

Elphaba would never know what possessed her to be so goofy that day. Perhaps she truly was homesick for her books, and ecstatic to see some again. Perhaps she was excited to show off the many worlds that she loved to her new, and only, friend. Perhaps from inside the library, with all of those many worlds, the walls did not feel so much like walls anymore. Perhaps she was beginning to feel more at home here than she ever did in the town from whence she came, and it was making her act differently. Perhaps she thought that maybe she didn't have to be something other than who she was for Galinda to like her, and that fact emancipated her.

In all truth, this was the first time in a very long time, she was purely happy - no sarcasm, no loneliness, no desire to be alone, no enemies, nothing to fight, and no gravity. And in her purely happy mindset, she didn't want Galinda to be upset; she wanted to be responsible for that comfort, that smile, that laugh.

"You are so, so welcome, my sweet."

* * *

 **Proud of this one too, omg. Yay- go me. Read and Review please...?**


	8. To Distill it Out

**There is some soul of goodness in things evil,**

 **Would men observingly distill it out. (Henry V 4.1.59, William Shakespeare)**

* * *

A few weeks later, the snow was completely melted. A few weeks after that, the thunderstorms of spring began. Elphaba quickly learned, after being snapped out of her reverie by a cry down the hall, that Galinda hated thunderstorms.

The first night she heard Galinda's cry, it broke her heart and frightened her. Elphaba rushed to Galinda's room, knelt by the bed, and quietly interrogated her: "What happened? Are you alright? What hurts?" Galinda simply leaned into Elphaba's arms and tried to stop crying, as to not burn her. Elphaba awkwardly patted Galinda's head and tried to put it together.

"You're not hurt?" Elphaba asked, and Galinda shook her head into Elphaba's dress.

"You're all okay and healthy?" Elphaba asked, and Galinda nodded.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Galinda shook her head, then nodded, then shook her head again, and motioned lightly towards the window.

"The storm?" Elphaba asked quietly. Galinda nodded and held tighter. "The storm can't hurt you, Glin," Elphaba deadpanned, but it did nothing to ease Galinda's fears. She thought a moment more. "Want me to yell at the clouds, tell them to knock it off?"

Galinda couldn't hold back a tiny laugh, "Why are you so mean?" She muttered good naturedly against Elphaba's side.

" _Better to be a witty fool than a foolish wit_." Elphaba quoted, and smiled lightly when Galinda hit at her, her tears stopping.

"Mean green thing."

"I feel I ought to bow, now, after being granted such high praise."

"You're terrible."

"And if you're just figuring that out, it should seem that you're the _foolish wit_ of the two of us."

"Purely evil."

"It would be all part of my charm, if I had any charm." There was a smile and comfortable silence as Galinda calmed down and Elphaba chuckled lightly at her own joke.

"... Why is charm used for so many things, Elphie?"

"Meaning?"

"Like, there's charisma charm, magic charm, charming bells..."

"You know, I've never really thought about that."

"I think, most likely, the magic charm came first, then charisma, then bells."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, magic charm is being able to easily accomplish something, right? Well, it's easy to accomplish most anything if you're charismatic enough. Charisma is typically tied into attractiveness, and the sound of charming bells is attractive."

"I think you're probably right." They were silent for a minute. "I was referring to the charisma that I don't have. Earlier, I mean. Not the magic, or anything bell related."

"I know, Elphie, don't worry. If being purely evil was part of your magical charm, I'd be a bit more frightened."

"How do you know it isn't? Perhaps I simply wasn't referencing it."

"You want me to believe that you're an evil sorceress who just happened to stay in this Oz-forsaken castle?"

"I did try to escape. And they did call me the Wicked Witch of Grass back home. Did I ever tell you about that?"

"You never really tell me about your home."

"Well, there was this total jackass, Fiyero, and he and I would fight a lot. Not in the way that you and I fight, but in the way that I would have wrung his neck if it weren't illegal. I doubt I could ever get as mad at you as I got at him."

"I'm touched."

"You should be. Well, one time he called me that - the Wicked Witch of Grass - and I told him that I was actually the 'Wicked Witch of Kicking your Ass.' Isn't that witty?"

"If you like puns, I guess."

"...Well, do you like puns?"

Galinda leaned back and smiled at Elphaba. "I live for them."

* * *

It became a habit for Elphaba to come in and talk with Galinda during thunderstorms, until either one of them got too sleepy to care any more. In the morning, Elphaba would always claim that _talking to you is better than hearing you sniffle all the way from my room._ Galinda would always titter away some rebuttal, and Elphaba would begin a new topic of conversation.

They worked their way through the Shakespearean section of the library. Elphaba, more at peace with her newfound state of happiness, would be much less silly in her readings of the plays, but Galinda was always elated. They would play checkers when Elphaba's eyes got too tired, or brain storm ideas for the next essay that Elphaba aspired to write.

After writing that thesis, _In Response to a Rogue and Peasant Slave_ , late one night, Elphaba heard a small pit-pattering outside. She went to the window to see if what she believed was rain would grow into a storm. Instead of water, however, fire caught her eye. She grabbed her cloak and went outside to meet it.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded in a silent fury, standing only a foot or so before the first horse.

"Your sister told us that there was a beautiful girl living here. We've come to rescue her from you."

"Fiyero, this is her home. And I have done nothing against her. Nor would I."

"That's the story you're sticking to?" Fiyero chuckled. "You know, such a tale can't be believed - green things like you with big dark towers don't have a good track record when it comes to pretty young ladies." He paused a moment. "We're taking her, Witch. Deal with it."

"You will _take_ her nowhere. You won't touch a hair on her head."

"Does she really want to be locked up here with you, Green Girl?" Fiyero accused. "If I were her, I certainly wouldn't want to be. Let her go. Let her come with us."

Elphaba glanced at him for a moment, remembering Galinda's small shriek from many months ago: _"_ _If anyone deserves to leave this damn castle, it is me!"_ Elphaba turned on her heel at this and went inside quickly.

* * *

"Glinda." Elphaba whispered, shaking Galinda's arm lightly. "Glinda, wake up." Galinda groaned and turned over, unwilling to wake up just yet. "Glinda, this minute, wake up," Elphaba commanded more clearly. Galinda rolled over, and looked at her green alarm clock. "Glinda, are you happy here?"

"What?" Galinda asked quietly. "Elphaba, did you have a bad dream or something?"

"No. Galinda, are you happy here? In the castle?" Elphaba nearly whispered _"with me?"_ but decided against it. Who would be happy to be with a mean green thing like her, anyways?"

"Elphaba, you know I hate this castle, bu-"

"There's some people," Elphaba interrupted, "from where I used to live. They want to take you there."

"What?"

"Nessa told them how beautiful you are. They want to take you to where I used to live."

"That's very sweet, but the rules-"

"I can fix it." Elphaba swallowed. "There was never a way to get you safely to civilization before, but I can enchant something, to give to you, to give you power. The castle will recognize my magic, and I'll replace you here. If you want to go, Glinda, if you really do, I can break the rules."

"Wait, you're going to make me a witch?"

"Just temporarily. It won't break the spell that set the rules here, but you'll be free. I can work on breaking the spell for the staff, too, if I could have a little time." Galinda jumped up and hugged the witch hard.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Elphaba could only nod, going numb at the realization of what was happening.

* * *

"If you touch her," Elphaba growled as she kept Galinda behind protectively. "I swear to whatever deity you claim to believe in that I will have your ass above my fireplace. You will never see the light of day again if you so much as lay a finger on her."

"Sure, witch." Fiyero rolled his eyes. Galinda winced lightly at the tone he used against Elphaba. He then turned to Galinda, and she had to admit that he was rather attractive. "Come on, blondie, let's get you out of here."

Galinda faced Elphaba tentatively. Elphaba smiled at her weakly, and gave her the hand mirror she had enchanted. A tiny piece of her magic, placed in a mirror. The castle would be as powerless as it was to Elphaba's own presence. This tiny piece of her soul, too, would be dedicated to protecting Galinda. So long as it was within the blonde's grasp, should anyone present a threat to her... Elphaba's eyes went up again, glaring at Fiyero from over Galinda's shoulder. Part of her hoped he would be boorish enough to do so much as invade Galinda's personal space with his disgusting thoughts. He would regret it in hell.

For Galinda's sake, though, she genuinely hoped he would be a gentleman. For Galinda's sake of mind, she gave the mirror a feature other than being an embodiment of Elphaba's wrath.

"You'll be able to see anything you ask to through this," Elphaba murmured. "I'll get your staff free from the curse in no time. I'll send them to you, and you can start new in the village."

"Thank you, Elphaba. Really and truly," Galinda sighed happily, not noticing how Elphaba winced when she wasn't addressed as 'Elphie.'

"My pleasure, my sweet." There was a pause as Galinda looked to Fiyero from over her shoulder. Elphaba noticed the almost-wary look she afforded Fiyero, and kissed her head. "I'd never let him hurt you," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around the tiny blonde before speaking again, "Hold out, if you can," she murmured, then kissed her again. "Hold out, my sweet." Galinda hugged her tightly in return, almost crying but not sure why.

She walked towards the castle baricade and Elphaba - for the final time - opened the crack. Galinda stepped through, and was assisted onto Fiyero's horse. Elphaba took a step following her, and - for the final time - let the wall seal itself shut.

Galinda, for some reason, felt secure in all of this. But her heart ached lightly when Elphaba wouldn't even look up to acknowledge the tiny wave she'd been afforded.

* * *

 **I hope you all didn't mind how quickly this came about. Some of the worst things in life are the worst because they happen so very quickly, though. A sad thought, isn't it? Read and Review.**


	9. I'm Here

**Well isn't this a nice little chapter.**

* * *

When Galinda arrived at the village, she introduced herself as Glinda, and most of the people immediately took to her. She enjoyed the attention afforded to her by the boys in the small town, but only flirted back for the sake of flirting. She made a point of meeting the Thropps and Doctor Dillamond. The Thropps would have nothing to do with her, and Doctor Dillamond wouldn't either, until she told him that she was fond of Elphaba, and explained their friendship. After begrudgingly listening and eventually understanding the exchanges between the new blond and his old friend, he treated Glinda mildly. He could not admit that he cared much for her, but their mutual friendship caused a form of respect to form between them.

Many weeks after Galinda had gotten settled in the homey little village, she heard a knock on the door to her tiny house. When she opened the door, it was Grommetik, Tiny Time Dragon, and Madame Kreig. However, they were no longer tik-tok mechanicals. They stood on Galinda's front porch, as human as they were when the blonde was born.

Grommetik was a pudgy little man wit short legs and a bushy but well-groomed mustache. Tiny Time Dragon, who was called Drake before the curse, was short but thin. He smoked a pipe and his pocket watch poked out from behind his vest, as it always did when he was younger. Madame Krieg was a warm woman, round with soft grey hair, kept up in a bun at all times.

"Grom? Master Drake? Madame Kreig?" Galinda asked excitedly.

"The others are in town, looking for a proper lodging. We weren't sure we'd find you."

"You're human!"

"We had the same reaction, my dear." Madame Kreig responded as she laughed. Each hugged the blonde, and smiled as they were invited inside.

"This is so wonderful. You all look wonderful." Galinda smiled widely, "How's Elphie? Is she okay? I bet she's read everything in the library by now, hasn't she?"

"Well, my dear, I was meaning to get to her," Grommetik began, and instantly Galinda's joy began to fade.

"She's okay, isn't she?"

"Well, Miss, she was well enough to save us from the curse."

"But is she okay?" Galinda demanded. Tiny Time Drake put a hand on her shoulder as Madame Kreig explained.

"She was near obsessed for a time, trying to get us human again. We couldn't get her to eat much of anything, but we assumed it was from her focus being on us. Well, when we became human again, her focus shifted to getting us out of the castle. Even then, she was too focused to do much else."

"But it was so easy for her to make the mirror for me."

The adults looked briefly among themselves. "Which is why we're concerned."

"Truth be told, Miss, we hadn't really seen her since you left. She shut herself up, and we weren't allowed in. She just cast her spells from the other side of her door," Tiny Time Drake admitted.

Galinda's eyes widened slightly and she went to the kitchen. After scrambling around in her bag for a moment, she pulled out the mirror Elphaba had enchanted for her.

"Show me Elphaba," she requested slowly. In the mirror, all she could see was Elphaba's form under the covers of her bed, shivering lightly. "She must be sick. We need to get to her," Galinda decided quietly. She began towards the door but was stopped when Master Jacques, who had once been a broom, was at her doorstep.

"Miss, it's wonderful to see you."

"You as well, now, really Jacques, we have to go."

"Go where? We just got here."

"To the castle."

"Oh. Well, there's some fellows from town, already on their way there."

"What?"

"Me and the other fellows were talking some and this man came up to us and asked us what we were talking about. We told him about the spells and such, and he got really livid, called his fellows together, and made way to the castle."

"What?"

"I think they thought we'd a witch at our castle, Miss."

"Jacque must you be so incredibly dense? We _do_ have a witch at our castle, and I - goodness. Grom, we need to go. Tiny Time Drake, you too. Madame Kreig, stay here and once everyone else gets here, bring them back to the castle."

"Yes, Miss."

* * *

Elphaba felt deftly at her cheeks, wincing at the pain doing so brought. She was beyond tired, despite having been in bed for a long time. She couldn't remember how long, exactly, but she remembered that she'd begun by trying to convince herself that the quiet was welcome.

Elphaba wasn't born for the rose and pearl. Or company or friends or anything nice. Even the tiniest rose, or the cheapest pearl, were not meant for her. It hadn't been so hard to accept that before.

It took too much energy to think, so Elphaba returned to poking her burnt cheeks as she tried to doze off.

* * *

Galinda and the staff began their journey to the castle shortly behind Fiyero's men.

For some reason, the little blonde was desperate and commanding as they made their way through the woods. More than anything else, she just wanted to find her best friend again. She couldn't help but think about how cold it must be in that castle, and how lonely Elphaba must have been without anyone there. Maybe it was loneliness that made her sick - the thought impaled Galinda as they walked on.

She thought about how Elphaba had previously described Fiyero, and wondered why the green girl had sent the blonde with him. Had she always sounded so desperate to leave the castle, so desperate that she would go with someone who hated Elphaba? _Yes,_ she answered herself, sad at the answer. It didn't matter now, she decided, because now she was willingly going back. Now, she would make it up to Elphaba, by caring for her, as Elphaba had cared for the blonde.

But there was the mob to be taken care of first. The mob approaching her castle. Her Elphaba. No. Her _Elphie_ , who was probably sick and shivering under the covers, and probably in no shape to retaliate against Fiyero's men.

They loathed her. Galinda had, too, once loathed her. Was loathing someone always so dangerous?

But Elphaba loathed nearly everyone. She was often tired and tried by people. And yet, Elphaba had saved Galinda before.

Maybe Elphaba just didn't let her feelings interfere with her actions, or lack thereof. _That's must be it_ , Galinda thought. _Elphaba would never do anything just because of how she felt. No, she's too bright for that._

It stung slightly when Galinda's mind wandered back to how desperately she had hated the castle, and how easily she had left.

* * *

There was a pounding at the door that awoke her next. She, slightly fearful, arose and looked out the window. Under the grey skies and the beginnings of rain was a small militia, armed with pitch forks and torches. For a minute, Elphaba contemplated going back to bed. But she remembered that this castle had once belonged to Galinda, and felt her a loyalty to the blonde convincing her that she ought to defend it.

Deftly, she conjured a few booby traps in the foyer, and a few catapults at her windows. She charmed them - and laughed sadly at the word 'charmed' - to fire at will, and went to the tower in the west wing. From there, she watched the chaos unfold with disinterest.

* * *

A few hours passed and many of the men were in the castle now. Elphaba sent a few charmed weapons to defend the downstairs, but truly was not very dedicated to the battle. Until Fiyero noticed from whence those charmed objects came, and made his way up to the west wing.

"You wicked witch," he spat, and Elphaba turned around to glance at him. He unsheathed his knife and Elphaba felt the familiar prickling of fear. For some reason, it motivated her into fighting back, and her hatred for the brute further encouraged her as the scramble wore on.

The rain began after only a few minutes of fighting, and Galinda arrived in the West wing with it. Fiyero was the first to notice her, and quickly grabbed her wrist before Elphaba could see her. When Elphaba's eyes did land on her, she softened, and her breath seemed to come easier.

And then, Elphaba saw Fiyero's hand on her wrist.

Anger had never existed before she saw that.

" _Get_ the hell _off_ of her," Elphaba growled, and grabbed Fiyero's wrist, forcing him to drop Galinda's. Within moments, the two of them were wrestling, struggling for the upper hand. Fiyero forced their fight to the balcony, and Galinda nearly cried when welts splattered over Elphaba's skin, as she was forced to struggle beneath the rain.

"Elphie," Galinda whispered, unsure herself if it was a cheer or a desperate request for the girl to come back to safety.

Elphaba didn't hear that cheer or request, but focused on forcing herself away from the edge of the balcony. "I told you not to touch her," Elphaba growled, and Fiyero nearly cackled.

"You think anyone in the village would respect the word of you, Green Girl?" He spat, "You're nothing but a waste of space."

Elphaba instantly saw hands grabbing at Galinda, hurting her. Her fury built and quickly she was holding him against the ledge. "I didn't expect anyone to respect my word." She shifted, holding him roughly by his collar. "I expected you to fear it." She shook him my his collar roughly, pushing his back against the railing of the balcony, and growled, "Fear it yet, jackass?"

"Elphie, don't," Galinda spoke, just loud enough to be heard. Elphaba glanced to her. "You won't be able to live with the guilt. Just, come inside. Where it's safe. You're getting wet." As Elphaba's head was turned, Fiyero grappled for his pocket knife, thanking Oz for the distraction that the little blonde provided.

Elphaba turned back and glared at Fiyero. "Awe, did someone finally get the bitch on a leash," Fiyero whispered tauntingly. Anger tightened Elphaba's chest, but with Galinda's request still in her mind, she only growled threateningly at him, and noticed for the first time how much the rain hurt.

She let go of him with a glare and a small threat to stay still, then made her way back to Galinda. Before she could get two steps, though, Fiyero thrust his knife into her side.

Elphaba felt the pain, the blood seeping through her dress. But in that moment, all she could think of was that he could do the same against Galinda. She whipped around, taking the knife from his hand, and pushing him backwards.

He laughed, gesturing to her side, "Great job, Green Girl. You got me, got that knife, right in the nick of time, huh?"

Elphaba glared at him, then turned to Galinda exasperatedly, " _he jests at scars that never felt a wound_."

"Elphie, no. Come here," Galinda pleaded. Elphaba threw the knife off the balcony, and obliged the blonde weakly.

Galinda's focus was drawn to Fiyero for a moment as his laughter moved him backwards. He chuckled and stumbled backwards, near the edge. With one final cackle, he stepped too far, and fell from the side of the building, screaming in his panic.

Elphaba didn't notice, instead falling on her knees. Galinda's eyes snapped back to Elphaba and she quickly gathered the green girl up and brought her inside.

"Elphaba, Elphie, can you hear me?" Galinda asked, staring into the eyes that were starting to glaze over. Elphaba nodded weakly, and tried to stand. "No, Elphie, it's okay. Stay here." Galinda briefly touched Elphaba's face, taking account of the rain's damage, and the damage too severe to be rain. It took her a mere moment to realize that her cheeks were an angry pink because of tears.

"No," Galinda murmured, holding Elphaba's face and wishing away the tear stains. "No, no, no. Elphie, you, you should've..." Galinda couldn't finish her sentence as Elphaba leaned into her, slowly losing all of her strength as the water and her blood trailed down her skin.

"Grom!" Galinda called out, desperate. "Grom, Madame Krieg. Please!"

Elphaba winced at the volume and sadness of her voice, wanting to ease whatever pain caused it. She realized the storm was the most likely culprit, and decided that she ought to comfort the blonde as she often did during a thunderstorm. "Elphie, please, just talk to me. Please."

"I'm here," Elphaba muttered, her eyelids growing heavy as pain threatened to overtake her consciousness. "I'm here."

"How do we fix you? Do you have an oil for this or something?" Galinda panicked as Elphaba's body shuddered with her breathing. "Elphaba, please."

"It's fine, Glin. I'm here." She picked herself up just enough to hug Galinda weakly. "You don't have to worry, a storm can't hurt you. It's okay. I'm here." Her breathing slowed into small wheezes as she began to fade, and Galinda failed to hold back tears.

"Grom! Tiny Time Drake! Please," Galinda cried, hugging her friend as closely as she could.

* * *

 **I love re-reading my own stuff. I know I can always be better. But it's entertaining. Read and Review**


	10. Happy Endings Aren't Real

When Tiny Time Drake and Grom did arrive, they were terrified by the red marks on the green girl. Galinda quickly and tremulously explained what she knew of Elphaba's sensitivity to water. They brought the girls to Elphaba's bedroom and quickly began to dry her. Each time a towel touched her skin, however, Elphaba winced and awoke enough to pull away before fading off again.

Galinda took charge, and sent the boys away to get some sort of doctor, unable to handle seeing the girl hurt. With a gentleness she had learned from the green girl, Galinda tried to dab off the water on Elphaba's face. Elphaba only winced for the first few dabs, but soon awoke, her dreams unable to block out the pain. Galinda didn't notice and tried to dab her forehead, but Elphaba weakly reached up and caught Galinda's arm.

"It's not worth it, Glin," She mumbled, trying and failing to make eye contact. "You can't do anything to fix me. You can't love me hard enough and break a curse. You can't love me hard enough and make me beautiful, Glin, that's not how it works. You - you can't fix this."

Galinda blinked hard, trying to keep her tears from further hurting Elphaba. Elphaba's eyes shifted noncommittally, and briefly noticed Grom, Tiny Time Drake, and some tall looking man enter. She couldn't bring herself to trust her eyes, and upon feeling another bite of pain, she closed them.

"Maybe I don't care if you're beautiful or not, Elphaba Thropp, how about that." Galinda replied, unsure of how it was possible to want to hold and scold someone at the same time like this. "Maybe I don't give a damn anymore about the green on that skin of yours. Maybe I just want to make it stop hurting you, how about that, Elphaba."

Grom and Tiny Time Drake looked at each other briefly, and interrupted Galinda to introduce her to the next-best-thing to a doctor they had found.

* * *

If you asked Galinda about how she spent the longest day of her life, she would explain Elphaba's fight with Fiyero. She would mention trying to dry off her Elphie as gently as humanly possible, and in response being told that love couldn't fix everything. She would complain at how her staff had forced her out of Elphaba's room, and had the paternal audacity to order her to bed. She would admit to falling asleep for an hour or so, but being awoken by a sharp cry that she didn't realize she was able to recognize. She would tell you that she was only allowed to come back into Elphaba's room again after standing outside the door for another hour, swearing unceremoniously at the doctor who wouldn't let her in.

She wouldn't tell you that, after she was allowed in, she chose to stay out, in order to calm her tears so they wouldn't further hurt her Elphaba. She wouldn't say she spent the next hour outside of her room, trying to figure out how best to comfort _her_ Elphie if she awoke. She wouldn't tell you that she cried harder, upon realizing that she had said "if" in her mind, rather than "when."

She would skip that part, and tell you instead how she waited by Elphaba's side for hours, sitting on a stack of books, and desperately asking her name when the green girl would so much as breathe more deeply than normal. She would tell you that she had the sense to eat, drink, and sleep when she ought to for the next few days.

She wouldn't tell you that she had been forced by her staff to do so. She wouldn't tell you that every dream was a nightmare that sent her running to Elphaba's room, to double check that she was breathing, and then to sleep in there for the rest of the night.

She would mention, with a grin, that all turned out fine when Elphaba (who had always been a creature-of-the-night,) shifted uncomfortably as sunlight came across her face, a few mornings after that longest day of Galinda's life.

* * *

"Elphie?" Galinda asked lightly. Elphaba blinked herself to life, squinting from the light and the lack of her glasses, and looked up at the tiny blonde. "Elphie, you're okay."

Elphaba nodded and stretched lightly. She looked around, recognizing her sheets and pillows. Her gaze went back to Galinda and her eyes lit up.

"You came back," Elphaba muttered in wonder. Galinda nearly choked on her tears as she chuckled.

"Yeah, I did." Galinda lightly hugged Elphaba, before pulling back and glaring. "Why didn't you tell me you didn't want me to go, you awful green thing!"

"You hated it here, Glin."

"You idiot, I love you more than I hate this damn castle," Galinda replied, almost exasperated. She brushed her fingers against Elphaba's still-burnt cheeks. "And even more than that, I hate to think you were so sad you did this to yourself."

"I missed you." Elphaba sighed, relieved for the first time in a small eternity. "I didn't think I could miss anything like that."

"Well, I missed you too, you mean green thing."

" _Your_ mean green thing, though, right?"

"Yes, you are." Galinda chuckled. "My mean green thing." She sighed and grabbed some aloe oil from the bedside table. "I met Doctor Dillamond. He told me about this, and showed me where you kept it."

"Isn't he great?"

"He's a pretty great Goat, Elphie," Galinda nodded, gently rubbing the oil under Elphaba's eyes. Elphaba, oddly enough, didn't fight the contact so much as she typically would have. Galinda chalked that up to being asleep and hurting for so long. "He gave me a few of your favorite books, ones that we didn't have here."

"He's nice."

"He is." There were a few moments of just silence as Galinda attended to Elphaba's face. "Now, I don't think you've noticed, but we've got a little reading to do."

Elphaba smiled and began to get up. "To the library, then!" She muttered excitedly.

"No no no. _You_ are not allowed out of _this_ bed until _I_ say."

Elphaba faltered, nearly pouting. "But you said-"

"I brought the books up here, silly."

"You had me for a minute, you beast," Elphaba said teasingly, and began to really laugh, and Galinda realized she had never felt so relieved to hear that laughter.

Galinda watched for a moment or two, enraptured by how this green girl could laugh while still covered in burns. She didn't realize that such a beautiful smile was possible. She remembered for a minute, how Elphaba, when clearly and completely out of it, said that love couldn't make her beautiful.

Galinda realized that Elphaba was wrong, and that loving anyone so much could turn them beautiful, without actually changing any feature.

"Miss Elphie, you are truly a beauty."

Elphaba stopped laughing, unaware of what she had said days ago, and how introspective it had made the blonde. She rolled her eyes, feeling teased, but happily so. She chuckled in response, "And you are still a beautiful blonde beast."

* * *

Happily ever afters had never existed to Elphaba. She enjoyed reading the phrase in her books. But she knew that there would always be more challenges, more struggles, and more twists to the stories of any life. She knew that Cinderella and her prince would probably argue about children. She understood that Hero would probably never trust Claudio the same way again. She understood that Pinocchio's struggles as a puppet would follow him into his life as a real boy, but that Jiminy Cricket would not, since insects have notoriously short life spans. She understood that whenever dreams came true, new dreams would replace them. Humans were doomed to struggle in that way: they craved something to pursue.

She knew her skin would always be green. She knew that she would get wet from time to time. She knew that there were people who would never treat her kindly. She knew that she would get into her bad moods. She knew she would want to do different things throughout her life, besides sitting, as she was, in this library and reciting Shakespeare in funny voices.

But she also knew that Glinda didn't mind the green. She knew that Glinda would insist on treating whatever burns she would acquire. She knew that Glinda would give the people who treated her unkindly a cold glare and proceed to treat Elphaba lovingly. She knew Glinda would some how get her out of her bad moods. And she knew that no matter what she did in life, Glinda would always either be by her side, or excited to once again be by her side in this beautiful library, between adventures.

Elphaba knew she would, despite all of her limitations, always cater to Glinda. And Galinda would sometimes be unsatisfied with her attempts, but that she would always be grateful the attempt existed.

Happily ever afters don't exist. But, damn, if in between struggles she was sitting beside this little blonde, then Elphaba would be ready to take whatever life threw her way.

"Oz, tell us how you really feel, King Lear," Galinda giggled, breaking Elphaba's reverie.

"Isn't he just the best father?" Elphaba replied with a small grin.

"Parent of the year award goes to this man!"

"Right up there with our beloved Uncle of the year, Claudius."

"You're getting much better at this whole sarcasm thing, my sweet."

"Thank you!" Galinda smiled. Elphaba leaned back, returning the smile. Yes, if she could come home to this, she could take whatever life threw her way.

* * *

 **A ballroom scene just didn't seem to fit for the end of this little story. I hope you enjoyed it! R &R please!**


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